


Past, Present, Future

by hgleiser



Category: Motorcycling RPF
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 19:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14479908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hgleiser/pseuds/hgleiser
Summary: Jorge knows things have changed since his feud with Dani, but how much?  Set after Jerez 2017(aka best podium EVER).  Many thanks to L. for the beta and unending patience with my massive lapse in writing new fic.





	Past, Present, Future

Of all the places he’s imagined confessing his feelings to Dani, the podium in Jerez is in Jorge’s opinion only marginally less likely to embarrass them both than a press conference.

_Maybe we get married._

He groans to himself and tries to smile for the myriad of cameras below. _On second thought, maybe a lot less embarrassing._

“Jorge, over here!”

He looks down to see Dani’s hand, fitting comfortably around his own, and a shy smile on his face as he gives it a brief tug. “Marc wants a picture with us. You know how he is, posts almost as much as you do.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” The thought of Dani seeing every last shirtless selfie is both exciting and utterly terrifying, making the hair on his arms stand up as he feels himself pulled back toward the top step of the podium.

Dani shrugs and giggles. “No comment.”

Standing next to Dani while Marc makes increasingly bizarre faces at his Instagram followers, it occurs to him that he’s not _that_ upset about not winning. After all, progress is progress no matter how slow and it’s not as if a podium in his first year on the Ducati is a small feat.

When Dani puts his arm around his shoulders and pulls him close enough that their sides touch, however, he’s even less so.

 _People assume that riders hardly feel fear_ , he thinks as he tries—and fails—to ignore the warmth of Dani’s leathers against his own. _Those people have no idea._

It’s that sensation of contact that lingers into the next day when he’s with Aleix in Andorra for one of their occasional cycling days together, as noticeable as a handprint on his upper arm when he changes out of his gear. “I can’t keep going like this. I can’t keep wanting what I can’t have. Marc is already there. Why should he think about me when he is already closer?” Taking handful after handful of cold water, he splashes his face and neck to shock himself back to what he considers rational thought. “Either I tell him to get it out of my system or I forget him.”

“Forget who?” asks Aleix from the other side of the bathroom door. “You’ve been in there for fifteen minutes. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.” He takes a deep breath and opens the door, forcing himself to smile. “It’s not important.”

Laura, Aleix’s wife, appears at her husband’s side holding a happily squirming beagle. “What’s wrong? Time to unleash the cheer up squad. Half of it, anyway.”

Pippa whimpers and paws at Jorge’s arm until Laura hands her to him with a smile. “Aww, she remembers you. Say hi to your old friend Jorge.”

As if on cue Pippa licks all over his face, which is almost cute enough to make him forget the other reason why he’s here.

 

Aleix had stopped him in the paddock after his post-race meeting, conveniently blocking his view of Dani’s animated conversation with Marc several feet away. “Trying to pick up some tips? Not that you need them. Great ride today.”

“Thanks...” He’d stood on tiptoe to see over Aleix’s shoulder and frowned. “And no. I was looking for some other answers.”

Aleix had glanced behind himself then turned back to Jorge. “What are you talking about? Should I tell them to come over here?”

“No! No. That’s the _last_ thing I want. I’ve already embarrassed myself enough.”

“I wouldn’t call what you did today embarrassing. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you. If you need to talk to them you might want to now before we all catch our flights back. Going home?”

“Kind of. I thought I’d stay in Andorra for a few days and get some riding in. It feels like a second home even in a hotel and if I need someone to annoy I can call you.” He smirks.

“Cancel your reservation. You’re staying with me instead.”

“I’ll be fine. I know what you’re like. I’ll walk into your house and you’ll fuss over me like I’ve got the flu.”

“You can be so stubborn sometimes. You’re coming home with me and that’s final. Besides, Laura likes entertaining guests and she’s used to me bringing ones home.”

“As long as it’s not another puppy, no?”

Aleix had grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the paddock exit, leaving him gazing helplessly at Dani from a growing distance. “Come on, we’re getting to the bottom of this.”

***

Aleix leads Jorge to the kitchen and pulls out a chair for him then opens the freezer and picks up two containers of ice cream before taking two spoons from a drawer and sitting down. “Eat this.”

Jorge warily eyes the pint of rocky road placed in front of him. “What about training?”

Aleix grins and pats his shoulder. “Eat now, cycle again in the morning. Simple.”

“Is this your answer for everything?”

“No. Sometimes I like Nutella on toast. Popsicles. The little gummy worms I eat in the garage.” He points to a nearby cabinet with his spoon. “Cocoa Puffs. Depends on my mood.”

Looking at Aleix’s perpetually trim figure, Jorge can’t help but wonder where it all goes but Aleix only laughs when he catches him eyeing his waistline in his snug t-shirt. “I put it on, the bike takes it off! But for now no worries. Eat.”

“I thought my worries were the reason you insisted I stay with you.”

“Different set of worries.” He takes the lid off his pint of cookie dough and digs in with abandon, licking his spoon every few bites. “Hurry before it melts.”

Jorge sighs, his sweet tooth the last thing on his mind as he takes the lid off his own and scoops up a small bite. “If you insist.”

“So...you like Dani and you wish Marc would disappear, yes?”

“It sounds horrible when you say it like that. I don’t hate Marc, I just...”

“Want him out of the picture.”

“I want to see if he’s out of the picture in a...you know, romantic way.”

Aleix nods. “Hold on. I’ll call Pol.”

“What does Pol have to do with this?”

“He’s going to Barcelona for vacation and he tells me so is Marc. I call him, he can ask Marc if he and Dani are going out, he calls me, you get an answer. What do you think?”

“I don’t want anyone else involved. Why would Marc tell Pol who he dates?”

“My brother has...this certain kind of face.” Aleix plants his spoon in the ice cream and gestures to himself. “A face that makes people talk. Marc will tell him, you’ll see. Everything is under control.”

“Why do I feel like nothing is under control?”

Aleix shrugs and takes a bite, closing his eyes a moment to both savor the taste and ignore Jorge’s apparent paranoia. “No idea.”

 

It’s a week and a half later when Pol catches up with Marc by the hotel swimming pool, placing his towel in the empty chair next to Marc’s and going to sit a touch too closely to him at the edge. “Marc! What a coincidence! I didn’t know you were staying here too.” He dangles his legs in the water and gives Marc a playful nudge with his foot. “Nice to see you away from the track, I don’t get much of a chance to talk to you.”

Marc laughs awkwardly, knowing that aside from media duties the only notable way his and Pol’s lives intersect are their friendships with Jorge and Dani. “I don’t see you often, no.”

“What do you think about Dani?”

“He’s a good rider and a good friend. Why do you ask?”

“So you aren’t together?”

Marc’s face flushes a deep red. “A crush but it’s nothing.”

“I had no idea.” Pol wiggles his feet in the water, keeping his eyes locked on them in what he thinks is a convincing show of being unable to find words. “It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“I’m not the one for him. I see how he looks at Jorge and I put my feelings away. I want him to be happy, it’s not about me. I’m still not sure why you’re interested. You like him too?”

“No, no! Not like that. I was asking for a friend.” He grins a touch too widely and giggles at Marc’s curious stare. “My friend wanted to know if he had a chance with Dani because he talks about him all the time. I think he has a crush on him too.”

“Tell your friend good luck winning a race against Jorge. Once he wants something, he stops at nothing to get it. You know that as well as I do.”

Pol pulls his phone from his pocket and fires off a text to Aleix: _The parrot has landed._

_I thought it was the eagle has landed. Are you there with Marc?_

_The parrot is taking flight. Call you later._

“He doesn’t think Dani wants him like that. Aleix talked to him and he was sure Dani was with you so he was going to give up. He spends a lot of time with talking about his problems and eating dessert but since you are not together, I can tell him he doesn’t need the cheesecake.”

Marc thinks of when he saw Jorge in Germany the week before, sitting on the steps of his motorhome with one eye across the paddock on the doors of the one occupied by Honda, ice cream bar in hand and looking surprisingly forlorn for a man doing some of his best times of the season so far. _Have I been standing in his way all along? It must be a coincidence._ He hates the thought of interfering with anyone’s happiness, much less a friend’s, and feels a slight pang of guilt that his closeness with Dani might be keeping two people he cares about apart. _Maybe I should have said something to him then; I’m not here to be his rival off track as well as on._

“Pol, I want you to be honest with me.”

“Yes?”

“Jorge is your friend. Jorge is the one who’s been eating sweets with your brother. Yes or no?”

Pol, pretending to not hear him, leaves his phone by the pool then stands and leaps in, splashing Marc’s face by way of distraction. “What was that?”

“Dani and Jorge are in love.” A lump forms in his throat at the words and he swallows it quickly knowing it’s for the best. “Tell me the truth.”

Pol grins up at him. “Why do I have to answer when you already know?”

_So much for coincidence._

“Tell Jorge I hope they’re happy together. It’s time I let him go.”

“Marc?” Pol’s expression becomes one of concern. “Are you okay?”

Marc gives a lopsided smile. “I will be soon enough. Time heals more than broken bones, no?”

“We would know.”

Marc, never one to be upset for long, laughs and follows him into the water. “If Dani’s happy I will be. He deserves it.”

Pol punches the air in silent victory and resolves to call Aleix as soon as possible.

 

The next day’s sight of Jorge standing on the steps of the Honda motorhome is enough to make Dani stumble a bit as he pushes the door open. “Uh...what are you doing here?”

Jorge stuffs his hands in his pockets and takes a deep breath. “I know we’ve had our problems in the past and I want you to know I’ve put all of it behind me.”

Dani stares at him, looking incredulous. “We’ve been through this before. We ki...we made up. You don’t have to say it anymore. The past is the past.”

“Then what’s the present?”

Dani blushes and giggles to himself at the memory of the now infamous press conference. “Well...I know what you said the future would be.”

Jorge groans in embarrassment, making Dani giggle more. “Sorry. I’m sure you wish people would stop bringing it up but it was funny. I’m honored you want to put up with me.”

“It’s not that I want to put up with you.” He pauses, seeing Dani’s smile give way to a frown, and puts his hands on his shoulders. “That came out wrong. It’s not that I want to put up with you, it’s that I want to be with you. You make it sound like it’s a burden to want you and it isn’t.”

“Did you feel like this before you stopped hating me or only after?”

Jorge sighs. “Will you go back to hating me if I say before? Pride got the better of me. I didn’t want to like you then, much less want a relationship, so I covered it up by fighting with you.”

“It seems pretty stupid now, how much we fought. But like you say, pride gets the better of you. It did me too.” The smile flickers to life again. “With age comes wisdom and we are not getting any younger.”

Jorge wishes he could cut the tension and kiss him already but knows it’s better to wait for the sake of not taking one step forward then two significant steps back. “Come on, we aren’t _that_ old. Look at Valentino.”

Dani makes a face that makes Jorge burst out laughing. “I’d rather not. Not my type.”

“Besides, I think Uccio makes sure no one does.”

Dani laughs, taking the chance to move one of Jorge’s hands and hold it in his. “What’s your type?”

“Ah...hardworking, passionate, a sense of humor, a little grey hair, short...”

Dani’s face turns an endearing shade of pink. “Very specific taste.”

“Why shouldn’t it be? I don’t want anyone else but you.”

Before he can get another word in he’s pulled down to Dani’s level and feels a gentle kiss being planted on his mouth. “You can stop worrying about Marc. Like I said, the past is the past.”

“And the future?”

Dani glances across the street at an ice cream shop and Jorge’s stomach rumbles in anticipation. “My treat.”


End file.
